Lando: The Lasting Legacy

 WEEK 8

 

    Adilifu Nama describes how science fiction has been a way for black people to re-imagine the world around them. It has provided a space for black creators to explore complex themes such as the legacy of slavery, the relationship between technology and power, and the potential for social change. One film that is mentioned is Star Wars, which is a widely known franchise of movies that have been created since 1978 beginning with ‘A New Hope’. There is no black presence involved in the first film until ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ with the introduction to Lando Calrissian. Nama explains this shift from black absence to black tokenism. 

    One might wonder how black tokenism has been shown throughout the recent Star Wars films. White and black were symbols of good and evil in the earlier movies along with alien “others” fighting against the white coded Storm Troopers. This clearly shows the white dominant group as needing to fight those of different color and “otherness.” Once Lando was introduced in 1980, the franchise had been criticized for portraying him as being the token black actor for the film since he is the lone black character in the original trilogy. Additionally, it had been said that Lando was playing into racial stereotypes which furthers the tokenism aspect. Nama argues that his role was much more complex than that and his character goes deeper than just being the “side-kick” because of his redemption in ‘Return of the Jedi’ by leading the search for Han Solo’s body. This ultimately was a major turning point in American science fiction because even though it could have been argued that he was in this role due to black tokenism, it still had a lasting effect on the future of science fiction for black people in mainstream America. 

    To add on to the legacy of Lando, Donald Glover plays his character in ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ which has been well received for his charisma and new additions to the character. However, some have argued that Glover is simply playing a stereotypical black character in a franchise that has historically struggled with issues of representation and diversity. Others have defended Glover's casting, pointing out that his performance goes beyond mere imitation and brings new depth and complexity to the character of Lando.